John keane



J. KEANE.

v Attachment to Vesseis for Containing Liquors; No. 21,761. PatentedOct. 12, 1858.

N. PEITERS. FhnlmLllllcgmphan Washmglmn D4 Cv UNITED STATES PATENTOFFICE.

JOHN KEANE, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

APPARATUS FOR PRESERVING- MALT LIQUOR-S.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 21,761, dated October 12, 1858.

T0 cZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that L'JOHN KEANE, of the city, county, and State of NewYork, have invented a new and improved diaphragm attachment to casks andother vessels con taining liquors for the purpose of excluding air fromthe liquors while being drawn off and I do hereby declare that thefollowing is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of thisspecification, in which- Figures 1 and 2, are central vertical sectionsof two different kinds of vessels showing the application of myinvention.

This invention consists in a diaphragm or bag of india rubber or othersuitable flexible material of a size and form to constitute a lining tohalf of the vessel to which it is applied, secured by its edges allaround the interior of the vessel near the middle thereof. When thevessel is full of liquor this diaphragm or bag lies snugly around theinterior and close to one end thereof; and a vent being provided in thevessel on the opposite side of the diaphragm to that on which the liquoris contained, the diaphragm is caused to follow the liquor closely as itis caused to subside by being drawn off and thus to exclude the air.

The invent-ion is particularly advantageous in its application to beercasks, but may be applied with advantage to vessels for containing anyliquors which would be injured by contact with air and which requireracking or drawing ofl.

To enable others to put my invention in practice I will proceed todescribe it more particularly with reference to the drawings.

The vessel represented in Fig. 1, is supposed to be made of metal of twoparts A, A, of similar size and form, each part being provided with afianch a, and the two parts being secured together by screw bolts andnuts 6, I), through the fianches, and the joint between the two partsbeing made tight by a gasket or packing ring 0, of india rubber betweenthe flanches. The diaphragm B, is made to fit exactly the interior ofone of the parts A, A, and with an additional marginal portion 2", wideenough to be received and clamped tightly between the flanches a, a, bythe bolts 6, 7).

(Z, is the aperture for drawing oif the liqh I nor which may also beused for filling the vessel, but another aperture may be provided on thesame side of the diaphragm as the aperture (Z, for the purpose offilling the vessel. The head 6, on the opposite side of the diaphragm tothe aperture (Z, is hinged, so as to be capable of being opened to admitthe atmosphere by whose pressure the diaphragm is acted upon to permitthe liquor to run out at the aperture d, when the latter is open. Thishead may however be made loose enough to admit air to the diaphragmwithout opening it, as its only purpose is to protect the diaphragm fromi1- jury, and not to confine the liquor.

In filling the vessel through the aperture (Z, or another opening on thesame side of the diaphragm, the latter is forced toward the head 0, and,when the vessel is full, lies snugly against the interior thereof and cose to the head 6, as shown in dotted outline in Fig. 1. The aperturemust of course be at or near the lowest part of the vessel. When thebung or stopper is removed from the aperture 6, or the said aperture isotherwise opened the pressure of the atmosphere on the diaphragm bringsthe liquor in equi- Zz'brz'o and allows it to run from the aperture (Z,by gravitation and causes the diaphragm to follow the liquor closely andremain close thereto when the aperture is closed. Fig. 1, represents thevessel partly emptied. lV hen the liquor is all expelled the diaphragmfitssnugly to that half of the vessel in which is the aperture (Z, asshown in red outline in Fig. 1, till the filling of the vessel is againcommenced. It will be seen by the foregoing description that the airwhich enters the vessel to supply the place of the liquor never comes incontact with the liquor and after a portion of the liquor has been drawnoff the remainder will keep as well as if the vessel had never beentapped.

Fig. 2, represents the application of the invention to a common beercask. The diaphragm instead of being secured as in the examplerepresented in Fig. 1, has its margin covered by a hoop applied insidethe vessel and is nailed to the interior of the barrel by nails driventhrough the hoop. The head 6, is simply provided with a vent hole andthe operation is the same as in the vessel represented in Fig. 1, andalready described.

I am aware that a bag of india rubber has been inserted within a cask atthe bunghole to accomplish the same object as the diaphragm B, whichconstitutes my invenfit snugly to half of the cask or other vessel andattached all around the middle of the 10 same so as to operate in themanner described for' the purpose set forth.

JOHN KEANE.

Witnesses W. TUsoH, W; HAUTFF.

